Miles Davis and Gil Evans

Miles Davis and Gil Evans Hollywood Bowl Concert Program, July 20th, 1983

Yesterday was the 22nd anniversary of the Miles Davis [1926-1991] and Gil Evans [1912-1988] concert at the Hollywood Bowl.

Davis and Evans were celebrated for their earlier collaborations like "Sketches of Spain" and "Porgy and Bess." Although they were on the same bill, it was stressed that they would not be playing together.

Evans’ group played first, followed by Miles. But the set-up for Evans’ group still remained on the stage. Could Miles be going against expectations again?

After Miles played his set and an encore to an enthusiastic crowd, the audience lingered. And lingered some more. It wasn’t until the house lights came up and an announcement was made on the PA that everyone dispersed into the night. We had hoped in vain….

The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Jazz

The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Jazz

Zoot Sims

Zoot Sims

Aside from album covers, most of the autographs I’ve collected over the years have been in a book called "The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Jazz." It’s by two British writers, Brian Case and Stan Britt. As a British book, it has musicians that a lot of us Americans are not familiar with, like Bruce Thompson and Mike Westbrook. But it also had the advantage that nearly all the musicians I had sign in it were unfamiliar with it. Most read their entries very carefully and a few flipped through the book to see the rest.

The illustrations in the book are largely album cover reproductions with a few photos thrown in. It’s out of print now, but I’ve seen it in some used bookstores (and Borders.com has a few copies).

I thought the honor of the first entry reproduction should go the John Haley "Zoot" Sims [1925 –1985] since he had the best comment. Besides cool nicknames, musicians generally have a good sense of humor. When he looked at his picture, he said: "Hey, I’m wearing the same clothes!"

Freddie Hubbard and the UCLA Jazz Ensemble

Freddie Hubbard and the UCLA Jazz Ensemble, 1980


I’ve only had the pleasure of playing with one major jazz artist in my career. (To be hopeful, I should add ‘so far.’) That artist was Freddie Hubbard.

The director of the UCLA Jazz Ensembles at that time was Gary Gray. He was able to work some magic and get the great trumpeter Freddie Hubbard as our guest soloist! To put this in perspective, Freddie was still in his early 40s and about at the peak of his popularity and technical prowess. This was a guy who had played with John Coltrane, Eric Dolphy and Ornette Coleman (amongst many) and now he was playing with us!!

The night before the concert, we had our only dress rehearsal with Freddie. There were a few bumps and glitches, but we thought we had them nailed down by the time the evening was done. The concert itself took place on Wednesday, April 16th, 1980 at UCLA’s venerable Royce Hall. The second jazz ensemble opened the show and then the first ensemble played a short set of four numbers before Freddie joined us. He played 6 numbers with us and each one managed to show how nervous us young players were! The opening number, "Blues for NKWE" featured a very shaky introduction, but we recovered. After all, it’s pretty hard to mess up the blues! This number had my only solo of the evening – two choruses on the baritone sax. (In addition to baritone, I played tenor sax, bass clarinet and flute for the evening). A one chorus interlude followed my solo and then Freddie played 10 choruses. It was surreal to hear such great playing being done just 10 feet away from you!

Next followed his original composition (now a jazz standard) "Little Sunflower", "The Summer Knows", "The Love Connection" (it was originally scheduled to be last per the program, but it was switched to the penultimate spot). We finished with "The Intrepid Fox", a fast and tricky tune. After that, the audience wanted more, but we didn’t have anything else! So, we played "The Love Connection" again. Actually, it was good that we did since we messed it up pretty badly the first time we played it. (The band got lost during Freddie’s solo and he had to revert to the melody to show us where we should be.)

Some of the band members have gone on to great careers in music. Trombonist Alex Iles keeps busy playing with groups like Maynard Ferguson Big Bop Nouveau and Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band, in addition to teaching low brass at Cal Arts. Drummer Washington Rucker in active in the scene by not only leading his own groups, but also acting and teaching.

Because of my class schedule, I changed to the number two jazz band for my senior year, playing lead alto sax. During my last quarter, the second alto was a guy named Dave Koz. I wonder what happened to him?

Sun Ra and Ron Wilson

Sun Ra and tenor saxophonist Ron Wilson. Perhaps some sort of telepathy is being worked here? (photo by Steve Bowie)

Lester Bowie and the Art Ensemble of Chicago

Nice Guys


Many years ago, I was surprised to find there was a trumpeter named Lester Bowie [1941-1999]. Bowie is not a very common name and I wondered if we were related. (One of my other hobbies is genealogy. So far, I been able to trace my family back to James Bowie, free man of color [c. 1794-1832]. He lived in the same Louisiana parish as Col. James Bowie (of Alamo fame) and his family. There’s a good possibility that they were related since they had a lot of dealings together, it’s just a matter of finding and documenting the link. You can find my genealogy site here.)

In 1979, the Art Ensemble of Chicago played at UCLA’s Schoenberg Hall. Their latest album, Nice Guys, had only been out a few months. (One of the things I like best about albums is they have room where people can actually sign. I have yet to get a CD autographed. Nice Guys went one better by including a poster inside the sleeve.)

I introduced myself to Lester backstage before the concert. One of the first things I wanted to know from him was how he pronounced his name. Like my family, he pronounced it Boo-wee (like the buoy that floats in the water and rhymes with Louie, etc.). Singer David Bowie [nee Jones!] has been the most responsible for the mispronunciation. Lester told me that he had gotten tired of correcting peoples’ mispronunciation and just let them say whatever they wanted. Not me!

Next we talked about a family connection. Although he grew up in St. Louis, he was born in Maryland and that’s where his family traces their roots. Since my originated in Louisiana, we didn’t think we were related. Nonetheless, he signed my poster "To Steve Bowie, A long lost cousin? Lester Bowie"

Mercer Ellington

"To Steve, With My Very Best, Mercer Ellington"


The UCLA Jazz Club put on several Duke Ellington tribute concerts at UCLA’s Royce Hall in the 80s. For the 1982 concert, Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley presented the club with a proclamation declaring April 29th, 1982 Duke Ellington Day.

Shortly after the concert took place, the Duke Ellington Orchestra, led by Mercer Ellington [1919-1996] was playing a gig at Disneyland. I volunteered to present the proclamation to him since I was living in Orange County at the time (with the ulterior motive of adding to my autograph collection).

Security is tight at Disneyland, especially concerning access to the stuff behind the scenes. But it’s amazing how doors are opened when you’re carrying an official Los Angeles city document!

I given a backstage security pass and shown to the area where Mercer Ellington was relaxing after the concert. I presented the proclamation to him and although something like this was probably old hat for him, he was genuinely touched by it.

The album he signed for me is shown above. I’m a lefty and so was Mercer. Surprisingly, very few of the musicians I’ve gotten autographs from are left handed. Ornette Coleman and bassist Monty Budwig are about the only others I can think of off the top of my head. Intuitively, I always thought there would be a higher percentage in jazz than the general population, but I guess not….

Rahsaan Roland Kirk Transcribed

Page 1 of "Meeting on Termini's Corner"


If you get a chance, take a look at the February 2001 issue of DownBeat (Sonny Rollins is on the cover). Pages 86 & 87 feature my transcription and annotation of Rahsaan's "Meeting On Termini's Corner" from the "Domino" album. The blowing changes are based on "On Green Dolphin Street."
Since they didn't print the whole solo and what they did print is really tiny, I've included a complete copy above (for Bb instruments). For those of you who want a concert key version, let me know and I’ll send it to you.
I have a fair number of Rahsaan Roland Kirk solo transcribed (by me and another musician). We’re trying to get them published, but so far haven’t had any luck.

Page 2 of "Meeting on Termini's Corner" 

Alex Trebek and me, 1985. For the first week of the second season, they changed the format to put the champion in the far right podium. That's why I'm where the champ normally is. This was a very short lived change.